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J U L Y / A U G U S T 2 0 1 8 • r e s t a u r a n t d e v e l o p m e n t + d e s i g n • 1 5
Trust
St. Louis, Mo.
Trust takes a different approach — and
is still experimenting with the best way
to balance the coffee and cocktails.
Located in the Beaux Arts-style restored
Mississippi Valley Trust Company build-
ing that dates to 1896, Trust keeps the
focus on its U-shaped bar, which serves
coffee and pastries from 8 a.m. to 4
p.m. and cocktails from 4 p.m. to close.
Both options can be seen from the
window, "but the challenge is putting
them both up front without them con-
flicting," says Chief Operating Officer
and Founder Daniel Brian.
Tweaking the concept, which has
been open less than a year, has meant
lowering the backbar, which serves
as both storage and a barista station.
Brian also recently moved the espresso
machine's placement from the bar to
the backbar to make it more convenient
for morning baristas to clean and have
a view of guests.
Moving the machine also means
that, at night, the bar top is an un-
interrupted space and guests can sit
along the full length. This is better for
revenue, Brian says, and so far, the bar
has been bringing in around 75 percent
of revenue, both because it has more
patrons and because the drinks are more
expensive. In fact, since he's moved the
espresso machine, "the bar can now
do more than $1,000 per hour easily;
before, it was a struggle to do that."
Operating two locations in one,
Brian says, "is always a compromise."
The downside of moving the espresso
machine is that it adds a few steps for
the baristas.
To change the atmosphere from
day to night, Brian made sure he could
change the lighting. Curtains close in
the evening, lights dim and the music
volume rises.
The only thing that's a real chal-
lenge to change, Brian says, are the
eight two-top tables at the front of the
bar. "At a coffee shop, people like to
sit at a low table, but at a bar, they
like a high table because they're at the
level of the bar, especially if they have
people standing around them."
Brian is considering switching from
low to high tables but doesn't want to do
this too soon. "It takes 18 months to get
a coffee shop established, but it's much
quicker with a bar. So, I don't want to
move things over too much to the bar
because we're still finding our feet with
coffee," he explains.
The rest of the decor works for
both concepts, Brian says. "People
want soft seating in bars and coffee
shops. They will spill more in a bar,
so you want to think of stainability of
fabrics, but spills happen in coffee
shops, too."
Trust is a spinoff of Brian's original
Trust in San Francisco. The biggest
difference between the two, he says, is
that he moved the bar up front; in San
Francisco, it's much deeper into the
space. "There, we have a great coffee
shop, which is doing incredibly well,
and a very quiet bar that our members
use (both are co-working spaces). If it
was just a bar, it would be in a lot of
trouble, but luckily, we have a very ac-
tive events program there."
Images courtesy of Trust